Heart of Courage
by Duuuuuuuuudeeeee
Summary: Gamma Team has been dropped off after becoming famous, but that doesn't mean that their life of combat and bravery is over. Joe gets fawned over by a girl, Tweezer gets bored, and Gamma Station gets attacked. Master Chief joins that fight and comes across some of his oldest allies. DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT READ DEFENSE OF EARTH. Rated T for language and violence.
1. Chapter 1: Gamma

Author's Note: Hello! I am proud to present another epic journey across the Halo universe with my new fic, Heart of Courage! Hope you all like the first chapter! Time for the catchphrase:  
I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee, I got the dude-osity like nobody else.

===OUTSIDE DOCKING BAY, PLANET SACROS IV===

They had finished off the Flood's hive-mind and saved New York City from an army of robots as well as a Covenant invasion force. Fireteam Gamma's exploits had become well-known within days. The UNSC had publicized the heroics of the team, and they were known for being the main assist force in saving the city. The team also had a temporary additional team member... SPARTAN-099 Jessica. Only Ryan knew why she was really on the team... To get around to knowing Joe better, so she could ask him out. Ryan was sorely disappointed in himself for letting a temporary team member in for that purpose. Along with it, they still had to deal with Frag, Bolt, and Chopper, the triplet Bounty Hunters that had almost succeeded in bringing Tweezer to Nemesis to activate an ancient piece of Forerunner technology that would wipe out all of the human race, except for anybody in the firing station. The team had stopped Nemesis, but the triplets had escaped and are still holding many people for ransom.

Ryan did some research, and found out that the triplets were in for it...

The person that the mercenaries were going to lose a few body parts for was Ryan's stay-at-home wife, Cheryl, and their kids, Johnny and Lily.

"Well, i'll be in the firing range. Don't wanna have any degration of aim. This enhanced eyesight works wonders. It'd better stay that way." Joe said.

"I'll come, too! I love shooting!" Jessica said. Most of the team just called her 099.

"Ummm... Okay?" Joe replied, confused and slightly startled. Most people weren't very excited to work with him. Experiences with his last 6 fireteams are able to prove it.

"I'm gonna find my wife and kids. Ric, I need you with me. Trent, you come along, too. I may need your hacking skills." Ryan said.

"You got it, Boss." Ric replied.

"Coming along would be a great way to pass the time." Trent said.

"I'll be wondering when i'll find a unicorn. One day..." Tweezer said.

"We'll be... Alone, I guess." Taffy said, referring to himself and his twin, Crouton.

"You do that." Joe said to the twins. Then he walked off to the shooting range, Jessica trailing behind him. She mouthed "Thank you." to Ryan before leaving, then Ryan gave her the thumbs-up.

"Alright, Ric and Trent. Let's take the Dragon Fighters (Fangame Air vehicles with flamethrower cannons). They're pretty damn fast, so we should get to the stronghold where my family is within an hour or so."

They each mounted a Dragon Aircraft and were off. The Dragons were VTOL's, meaning that they flew as though they were in Hornets. They started the trip.

===SHOOTING RANGE, GAMMA STATION===

"Holy shit, nice shot, 099."

Joe and 099 had just reached the firing range and taken some sniper rifles, and Jessica was already trying to impress Joe. She started off by firing a perfectly-aimed shot from her sniper into the center of a holographic target, which dissipated and then reappeared. Jessica didn't want any... Distractions, so she asked Joe to leave his helmet on, saying he looked BA with it.

"You'd make a kick-ass sniper, 099."

Thanks, cutie- I, um, mean, Corporal."

"Ummmm... No... Problem...?"

Then a mysterious voice came up. It was around the same as Ryan's, slightly deeper. It also had an english accent.

"Well, isn't this sweet? Just the eternally good-looking Corporal Joe T. Carman and some pretty girl. Things _were _looking up for you, but i'm afraid that your little moment is over."

Joe didn't even turn around. all he did was tilt his head slightly downwards and then respond.

"Frag."

"Ah, so you _do _remember me? That's good to know. I was afraid that possibly, you had forgotten me."

"How could I forget you? You betrayed the SPARTAN-IV program and went off in that Warrior armor of yours to become a bounty hunter with your brother and sister. Seems pretty memorable to me."

"That all depends on the point of view, old chap. I, for example, remember it differently. I remember it as showing the moronic trainers of the SPARTAN-IV program a lesson for their brutal treatment."

"I'm bringing you in for being a bastard to the others."

"I don't think so... See, you and your friends had trouble taking on me and my siblings, and there are 8 of you. Try taking us on... Alone." And with that, the triplets appeared.

"Can I kill the girl? She seems like a bitch." Bolt asked to her brother. Her voice was American, and the only reason that Frag's was english was because he used a voice modulator in his helmet to sound english.

"Don't ask. Just do. It's the easiest way around things in situations like these." Chopper said to his sister. His voice was essentially a male version of Bolt's.

"Come and get me." Joe asid, and dropped his sniper rifle.

"What are you doing?" 099 asked.

"You'll see." Joe replied.

The triplet's leader moved in and grabbed Joe's wrists. He was greeted with an electric shock of 250 volts. He passed out and fell to the floor.

"BRO!" Chopper yelled, going to his brother's unconscious body.

"At least now, Ryan can free his family without any interference." Joe said cheerfully.

"Ryan? The dirty bastard decided to try to infiltrate our base? Bolt, back to the Eagle (Famgame flying heavy assault vehicle, seats 3 people)!"

"Got it." Bolt replied, and ran off to the Station's docking bay. Chopper carried Frag over his shoulder back to the aircraft.

"Alright, now... Where were we?" Joe asked.

"You called me a kick-ass sniper?" 099 replied, blushing.

"Oh yeah. Umm... Why you blushing?"

"I blush when people make compliments about me."

"Ummm... I see."

===TRIPLETS' STRONGHOLD===

Ryan, Ric, and Trent landed their Dragon Fighters on the landing pad of the Citadel. It was essentially a small prison, large enough to hold 25 people. They got out and stood in front of the door... Way.

"Umm... Trent... Hack... Yourself... Into... The... Door... Way. Ah fuck it, let's just go in. It was convenient of them to leave the doors open." Ryan said.

"I'm not sure if they ever had doors in the first place, general." Ric said.

They entered and walked through the prison cells, where energy doors held the captives in. They walked about 40 paces, and then looked into the cell they were in front of. Inside, there was a dark-haired, short-haired woman who looked to be in her 20s. With her was a 10-year-old dark-haired girl and a 14-year-old boy with the same hair color. They noticed the people outside their cells.

"You three triplets decided to take an armor change? Good for you." The woman said.

"Honey, it's me. I'm here with Trent and Ric to bust you guys outta here."

"Ryan?"

Ryan pulled his helmet off, and his physical attributes were finally revealed to those who were looking and hadn't seen Ryan's face yet. He had short, scruffy, light brown hair and brown eyes, one eye quite darker than the other.

"Dad!" The two children said simultaneously.

"Ryan!" The woman said.

"Heheheh... Yes... Ryan... Looks like the romance is alive today." A male voice said.

Frag, Bolt, and Chopper came up behind the three team members and locked their wrists in handcuffs.

"Let... Us... Go." Ryan demanded.

"Oh, we're not letting you off the way we did with Joe and that chick. No way, you're coming with us."

"Not on my watch."

The triplets were instantly zapped and fell to the ground, knocked out. Ric busted out of the cuffs, and broke open the other two pairs.

"Trent, place an L69 Electrical Charge on the control panel." Ryan ordered.

"Yes, sir." Trent replied, placing the charge, which zapped the panel and the energy door dissipated.

"Let's get outta here." Ric said.

Author's Note: First chapter, complete! Hope you all liked it. I would like to know who's POV (Point Of View) you'd like to hear the rest of the story from. Leave a review saying whether you think it should be Ryan, Ric, Trent, or Joe's POV. Then, when I write my next chapter, I'll announce whose POV the rest of the story will be told from, depending on how many votes each SPARTAN gets. I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee, I got the dude-osity like nobody else.


	2. Chapter 2: Assault

Author's Note: Wow. No reviews and 23 views, not a single follower? I thought my story would wind up with better popularity than this. Well, I guess i'll just write the rest of this story in the 3rd person. Hopefully, i'll get more popularity with this one. I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee, I got the dude-osity like nobody else.

===GAMMA STATION, PLANET SACROS IV===

"Well, well, well... This is just too funny to ignore. Joe's love life is screwed."

Taffy and Crouton were watching the security cameras in Gamma Station's command room, paying exclusive attention to the firing range. They noticed that Joe and Jessica were being way too awkward. It was actually quite humorous to watch. Once the screwing up ended and the Snipers went back to target practice, the olive-armored twins got bored. They decided to go to the rec room and play some Halo 4.

What they didn't know, though, was that their base was going to be a pile of ash and scrap metal if they didn't prepare themselves.

===TRIPLETS' STRONGHOLD===

Ryan, Ric, Trent, and Ryan's family ran to the landing pad outside the citadel. Once they got there, though, they found... Nothing. Their Dragon VTOLs were gone. They had almost no means of getting back to Gamma Station.

"Trent, open up comm channel A2YN907R and call for a pickup to Gamma Station." Ryan said.

"No need. Pickup inbound." A voice on the comm channel said. It was Zeta.

"Zeta, how did you get onto this channel?" Ric asked.

"Are you seriously asking that? I'm an AI. It's a retarded thought to think that I _can't _hack into your comm channel. I simply bypassed the 27 security layers added by Trent. Next time, if you don't want AIs in your comm channels, don't give all 27 passwords to Tweezer."

"I'm gonna fucking kill that dickheaded moron." Ric said.

"Why do you have a problem with me in your communication network? Do I scare you?" Zeta asked.

"No, but you're sort of a bitch. No offense."

"None taken. Being an AI also means that I can't feel what you humans feel."

"Wait, Zeta... You were implanted into Bunny's Mantis Suit. How are you communicating anyways?"

"Well, I can actually leave the suit whenever I want to. It's a miracle to be an AI. All the UNSC needed was Dr. Evan Phillips' brain and a damn good scientist."

A Vulture Gunship appeared and was flying towards them.

"You took the Vulture? Seriously?" Trent asked.

"It feels... Roomy in here. There's so much more space than the suit."

"Ah."

Zeta landed, and the Gunship's back door opened. Everybody crowded inside the tranport area.

"I don't trust this thing." Cheryl said.

"Honey, i've worked with Zeta for 3 years now. He's trustworthy." Ryan said.

"Don't worry, i'll fly slow." Zeta said.

"Ok... Fine." Cheryl said.

===REC ROOM, GAMMA STATION===

The alarm sounded. It could only mean one thing...

"Taffy, what the hell's going on?" Crouton asked, panic in his deep voice.

"Well..." Taffy looked at the external security cameras. "Looks like we're under attack! The Covenant decided to attack us..."

"Fucking perfect..."

"Guys, why are there big rumbles in the ground? Is Bunny hungry?" Tweezer appeared, apparently both afraid and confused.

"Tweezer, we're under attack! Get your weapons and head outside!" Crouton said.

"Attack?! Okay, I will get weapons!"

Taffy and crouton grabbed their Assault Rifles and Battle Rifles and headed outside. They saw Wraiths, Ghosts, Banshees, Revenants, Spectres, and lots of infantry units. They turned around, and saw two Elite Assassins (Fangame alternative to Spec Ops Elites from Halo: Reach) blocking the way back inside. Taffy and Crouton released their holograms, and the Assassins were confused. The twins used this momentary distraction to get behind the Elites. Taffy tackled his Elite, stabbing it in the jaw with his combat knife. Crouton threw his down and took its energy sword, then jumped on its shoulders and stabbed its collarbone (Assuming Elites even had those) with the energy weapon. Its blade disappeared afterwards. This meant that the sword was on its last charge. Crouton threw it away and pulled his BR out. He fired three bursts at a Grunt, which flew backwards and hit a Ghost. Once it did, the Methane tank on its back flew off and hit a Jackal's energy shield, then exploded.

"I am here, and I have weapons of many types!" Tweezer said.

"Good. Now unload those weapons into the enemy!" Crouton said. A Beam Rifle shot hit his Vanguard helmet, but it bounced off and hit an Elite General.

Once Tweezer had cleared away the first Wraith, the three of them saw who was leading the assault, and that it wasn't just Covenant attacking them.

"Nemesis?!" Taffy asked incredulously.

"One does not simply defeat me. My will to destroy your race has preserved my soul."

"Wait, is that a Vulture?!" Crouton asked.

The three looked into the distant sky, and Crouton's question was answered. It _was _a Vulture. It fired a spray of missiles at the assault force, destroying numerous Wraiths and Ghosts. The Machine Gun Turrets blasted down the Banshees that were firing at it. After that, the Vulture landed directly on top of a swarm of Jackals. The back doors opened, and Ryan, Ric, and Trent came out guns blazing. Soon, there were numerous corpses and vehicle pieces littering the battlefield.

"You have not seen the last of me. I will destroy you all." Nemesis said, and then disappeared in a fiery explosion.

"Yeah, see you in hell." Ric said.

"You guys saved us!" Taffy said.

"We would be very, very dead if you had not come to us in this very large ship." Tweezer said.

"Thank Zeta. He brought an evac shuttle for us so we could come back." Ryan said.

"Nice." Taffy said.

Cheryl, Johnny, and Lily came out of the ship.

"Whoa... Dad, did your team do all of this?!" Johnny asked.

"Yep." Ryan said.

"Wow..."

"I didn't know that there were more people with you." Cheryl said.

"There's two more... Where's Joe and 099?" Ryan asked.

"In the firing range." Taffy responded.

===FIRING RANGE, GAMMA STATION===

The team and Ryan's family went to the range, and saw Joe and 099 unconscious on the floor.

"What happened here?" Ryan asked.

"Looking into security footage..." Trent said. "They were attacked by Elite Assassins, which apparently never left this room... Oh crap."

Six Elite Assassins appeared behind the crew, all carrying Energy Swords. One of them nearly decapitated Ryan, but he used his Thruster Pack to dodge, and then fired his shotgun at the Elite, killing it. He pulled out his combat knife and stabbed another one in the neck. Cheryl, Johnny, and Lily ran for safety behind a bulkhead, and watched the battle.

Trent used his Cloaking Device, and assassinated an Elite from behind, putting the weight of his half-ton SPARTAN suit on the head of the Elite.

A deep thudding noise came up behind Ryan's family. When Cheryl looked behind her, she was intimidated by the 12-foot-tall Lime-Green Hunter towering above her, looking down at its miniscule targets.

"_RYAN!_"

Ryan looked around, and instantly boosted towards the hunter, firing shotgun shells at its soft parts. Lekgolo worms flew out and orange blood spattered on the floor. The rest of the team eliminated the other Elites.

"That was crazy." Trent said.

Author's Note: Awesome, right? I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee, I got the dude-osity like nobody else.


	3. Chapter 3: Fireteam

Author's Note: Yay... Double-Chapter weekend for me tonight... The third chapter in this Fic, and the first for a new one... So much stress... But, hopefully, my story will get more popular with this chapter! Also, you guys will _love_ the story of SPARTANs Caleb and Jordan, told from Caleb's POV. I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee, I got the dude-osity like nobody else.

===FIRING RANGE, GAMMA STATION===

The battle in the firing range had traumatized the whole team, as well as Ryan's wife and kids. The question that the battle had planted in the minds of everyone's minds was, "_How did the Elites infiltrate the security system?_". Trent was an all-time pro at setting up layers upon layers of security. The Covenant hadn't blasted the ID confirmation console, hadn't blasted the doors to bits, and hadn't entered the ID codes for any of the team members. They knew because of two things: There were microscopic security cameras every 15 feet in and on the base, and Trent had all-out access to security footage.

"I just don't get how those creeps got in... I'll need to set up another 10 security layers. I'll give you guys the passwords on the radio channel after I set 'em up." Trent said, then went over to the Base's control room.

"I really think that we need to set up defensive turrets. Gauss. Automated. Repeating. Armor-Piercing. They'll think twice about attacking us with _those_ defenses on hand." Tweezer said.

"Whoa... Is this Tweezer or Ric talking?" Joe asked.

"Well... Thanks for the stereotype, Joe. I'll add that to the ever-growing list of things that _piss me off_." Ric said.

"I'm not scared."

"You say that now... Just, don't be alarmed if your next shower turns out to be acid, not water."

"Enough of the threats, guys. Stop or one of you's gonna get a broken skull." Ryan said.

"'Enough of the threats'... Look who's talking, Mr. 'Somebody's gonna get a broken skull.'" Ric replied, laughing.

===COVENANT CRUISER _SACRED BLOOD_, IN SPACE ABOVE PLANET SACROS IV===

"They're alive? I asked for _dead_ demons, not healthy, well-equipped demons! We cannot afford to send any more spies, or we won't have any more to monitor the rest of the planet's pitiful resistance forces!"

"Sir, they have one of their Vulture-class ships in the atmosphere, we cannot get close without being incinerated."

"I have had enough of this! I don't care what vehicles they have on their tiny human hands, I want them _DEAD_!"

"Sir, at best we can send the cruiser."

"If we send the cruiser, we risk our entire faction! The smaller vessels will part from the faction and seek more reliable leadership, and we will be destroyed! I am _not_ sending _Sacred Blood_ into human airspace!"

The Reaper Brotherhood of Covenant shipmasters had assaulted Gamma Station, yet failed. The Covenant Faction's resources were dropping in number dramatically. They needed to stage an assault so large that not even the Fireteam's Vulture could stop.

"...General, how many Scarabs do we have in storage?"

"Shipmaster, we have 100 Scarabs in the ship's storage."

"...Prepare them for an atmospheric drop. They will attack the humans' station."

"Yes, sir!"

===GAMMA STATION WATCHTOWER===

Joe's shift for Station watch had arrived. Joe arrived at the top of the watchtower, and looked around with his Sniper Rifle. At first, it was all clear. Then, once Joe looked into the sky, he noticed that they wouldn't be sleeping tonight. A portal opened up, and out of it came a massive object... It looked roughly like a jellyfish. It flew across the horizon, and continually flew until it was out of sight. As the object flew, it dropped large drop pod-like items from the main body. They crash-landed in alternating parts of the area, and when Joe looked through his scope to get a closer look, he saw that they had split apart, with mutated Elites coming out of them. Joe would have had a heart attack if he had not known what they were.

"_Flood..._"

He had to warn the team. The Flood were coming directly to the Station.

He ran down the staircase, through the automated doors (After activating all 58 passwords), and into the hallway with the members' rooms. He banged on Ryan's as hard as he could. When Ryan came out, he didn't look happy.

Especially considering that he was scruffy-haired, tired looking, sweaty, and in his underwear.

"Joe, go the fuck away." Ryan said, sounding extremely worn out.

"Ryan, the... The Flood... They dropped from a huge floating object and they're coming _directly_ for the base!"

"Holy shit..."

"Yep. Let's get the others up!"

"Okay... Just, let me get my armor on."

"'Kay."

Joe woke up Taffy, Crouton, and Ric. They either weren't sleeping, or slept in their armor. They picked up their weapons and headed to the front of the base, watching the hordes of Flood monsters coming ever closer. Five minutes later, the rest of the team ran up to their position, and Bunny came to the guard point from the vehicle depot.

"Wow... Looks like we're in for it." Trent said.

Cheryl, Johnny, and Lily had come out, too. They were instantly traumatized by the sight of waves of zombies coming for them. They ran back into the base.

"I decided that incinerating hordes of zombies would be more effective than shooting them with 10-pound lead projectiles, so I took the liberty of equipping myself with a flamethrower for the time being." Zeta said.

"Good for you. Can we stay on the topic of the hundreds of parasitic zombies coming straight for us?" Taffy asked.

"Sorry, I get caught up in the moment of announcing my weapon of choice."

Once the Flood were about 100 feet away from the team, Joe had started firing his sniper rifle at them. Rows of them fell down, yet they never seemed to lose any forces.

"Hey, where's 099?" Ryan asked.

===COMMAND ROOM, GAMMA STATION===

"Hello? This is SPARTAN-099 Jessica reporting to Covenant Shipmaster Rien Drahume! We may not need the Scarabs. An army of Flood parasites is coming for the base!"

"Very well, human. Come behind the base and a Phantom will pick you up and take you to the ship."

"Got it."

Jessica headed behind the base, and a Phantom was waiting for her. It activated its gravity lift, took her up, and headed for the Reaper flagship, where it docked and let Jessica out. The Shipmaster, Rien, came to her and greeted her.

"Human, your work pleases me, as well as my associated Sangheili Shipmasters."

"Thank you, sir."

"I need you to lead a team of my most advanced troops into the fray against the humans. They have extra-resistant energy shields developed by our most intelligent engineers. You seem like a fitting leader for such powerful infantry."

"I would be honored to lead them."

"Good, good. The assault begins next sunrise."

"Yes, sir."

===OUTSIDE GAMMA STATION, PLANET SACROS IV===

"Well, at least now we don't have to worry about the Flood. Now, we have to worry about the Scaylur robot shooting at us." Trent said.

"One problem always takes the place of another." Ryan replied. "This shouldn't come as a surprise to us."

"It's a damn 30-foot-tall robot, shaped like a mutated crab, with plasma cannons in its claws!"

"Yes, but we've faced much worse."

"Like what?!"

"Like... Ummm... Hey, I've got an idea! Tweezer, that robot crab has free candy! Go get it!"

"Candy?! YAY!" Tweezer said, then got out of cover and ran straight for the Scaylur war machine. He took numerous shots, but didn't have a scratch on his armor. He jumped onto the cockpit, smashed it open, threw the pilot Scaylur out, and rummaged through the tiny storage compartment full of fuel cells for any candy.

"Hey, there's no candy here!" Tweezer said.

"There isn't? Huh. Can Trent drive that thing?" Ryan said.

"Okay..."

"Thanks, buddy." Trent said, hopping into the driver seat. "Uh... Does one of you have any idea how to drive this thing?"

"Wait... You know how to operate every single damn piece of Covenant and UNSC technology, but you can't pilot a 30-foot crab?" Ryan asked.

"Nope."

"Ah, hell with it. Ric, light it up."

"No problem, boss." Ric said, then pulled out two Spartan Lasers. He charged them up, and they fired _just_ as Trent exited. The vehicle exploded, and a piece of the wreckage hit Tweezer in the head.

"Owch."

"You okay, bud?" Joe asked.

"I... I think so."

"Good."

"Let's get some rest, team. That encounter took a lot of energy from all of us." Ryan said.

"I think I have a shattered thighbone..." Crouton said.

"Alright. I'll take you to the med room." Trent said, then went to the medical room, Crouton limping behind him.

"The rest of you, rest up and get your strength back. I want everybody in combat-ready condition by tomorrow." Ryan ordered.

"Yes, sir!" They all said in unison, then went to their rooms.

Ryan took a quick look at the Flood graveyard to assure that all of the corpses were really corpses. Once he saw that they were all dead, he went to his room.

Little did he know, though, that they needed to recruit a new weapon... Either that, or they die.

===ALPHA STATION, PLANET EARTH===

"Sir... I'm getting readings... They're not Covenant... Not Flood... Not Brutes or Scaylurs... But... It's something _massive_."

"How massive, Colonel?"

"I'd say about... 80-feet-tall."

"Alright... Is it an organic signature?"

"No, sir. It's definitely mechanized..."

"Well, then. Lucky coincidence that we've got something mechanized on our hands, too. Tell the Sergeant that he's got a job to do."

"Yes, sir."

===BETA STATION, PLANET REACH===

"What... Is... That?"

"What's wrong, Major?"

"Sir... I saw an enormous power fluctuation reading... Then the whole system powered down. I can't be sure, but it looked like it was headed _straight_ for our base."

"Power fluctuation... It's definitely a robot, then."

"Indeed, sir. Our remote scanners got a photo of it, too. But, screw technology, I _cannot_ get into the system to view the image."

"It's times like this that we should have kept written documents."

"Hold on... The system's powering up again... Dammit, the image wasn't stored into the memory unit. Wait... Gamma Station and Alpha Station are both experiencing similar issues... Mechanized signal at Alpha, organic signal at Gamma."

"We can't afford to assist the other fireteams, Bryant."

"But if we don't, that's two teams lost. If we do, it's just our team that loses."

"My point exactly. We've won numerous battles, I'm not gonna let us lose to a giant robot because we helped the others."

"But, sir..."

"I don't want to hear it. I'm the Field Marshall, you're a Major. I will not take orders from my subordinate. Got it?"

"Yes, sir..."

"Good."

===GAMMA STATION, PLANET SACROS IV===

Ryan laid down in his bed, and fell asleep instantly. As he drifted off to sleep, he woke up in 10 minutes, and heard rumbling, screaming, and gunfire outside the base. Just as he got up, a massive fist punched a hole in his room's roof. It was a monster of some sort. He quickly put his armor on, picked up his Shotgun, and headed outside. He saw a massive creature with grey skin. It was somewhat insect-like, with four legs and two arms with blades at the ends.

It looked familiar... Then Ryan remembered the dream he had two nights ago. This exact scene was taking place.

Looks like dreams _do_ come true, after all.

Author's Note: I hope the plot twist with 099 was interesting enough for your puny human minds! I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee, I got the dude-osity like nobody else.


	4. Chapter 4: The Chief

Author's Note: Damn, life is just so confusing, I'm going through so much right now... At least I have you, my beloved FanFictions, to help me through the hard times in life. I will never stop thinking about you...  
Shoot, did I get carried away? Sorry. Time for another 2-chapter weekend... Starting... Now!  
I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee, I got the dude-osity like nobody else.

===OUTSIDE GAMMA STATION===

"Ryan! Good to see you're still alive, boss! Help us out, here!" Crouton said, coming out from behind a barrier and firing his SMG at the insectoid creature. One of its sixteen eyes burst, but that just enraged the beast more. Bunny came out from the vehicle depot and fired his MG. The creature ran straight for him, tackled him to the ground, and raised one of its blades, then brought it down, impaling the fireteam's mechanical super soldier.

"BUNNY!" Tweezer shouted. He ran towards Bunny, but got swatted with the blade of the monster that wasn't being shoved deeper and deeper into Tweezer's best friend. He flew about 50 feet, then slammed against a rock. He fell down and passed out.

"NO!" Trent shouted, then ran to Tweezer's body. He checked his pulse. "He's okay! He's just fatally wounded, with lots of internal bleeding and broken bones!"

"Yeah, like _that's_ gonna make us feel more secure about our Forerunner friend!" Joe shouted, then fired a Sniper shot at the beast's eyes. He hit one, and the eye burst into a purple, bloody mini-explosion.

"RRREEEEAAAAGGGHHHH!"

Just after the beast screamed, another sound started coming closer and closer. It sounded like jetpacks. At first, Ryan thought, '_Reinforcements_.' He was proven wrong. The noise was coming from the jetpacks of ten silver-armored Elite Rangers, one of them in navy blue armor. There was something different about them, though... Did Elite Rangers wear pressure suits with the Gamma Team insignia on them?

The Elites fired at the monster non-stop with their Plasma Repeaters, Needlers, FRGs, Concussion Launchers, and Carbines. They burst all fourteen remaining eyes, and the beast fell to the ground, dead. Only two of the Elites died.

The Elite with navy blue armor came over to Ryan and greeted him. "Hello, human. I am Kozog A-Rekk. We lost allegiance to the Reaper Brotherhood, and we noticed that your association is small and weak. Therefore, we offer our services to you."

"Well, we _could_ use some help in this war... Alright, fine. You guys can work with us, if you want to so badly." Ryan said.

"We thank you, human. Should we establish ourselves elsewhere?"

"Nah, our base has a bunch of empty rooms. You guys can take them up."

"Thank you."

"No prob."

===UNSC _INFINITY_===

"Sir, we're getting eight more readings of life signatures down at Gamma Station. Should we investigate?"

"...Yes. Tell John that naptime's over."

"Yes, sir."

Back at the UNSC _Infinity_, the captain of the ship had realized that more soldiers arrived at Gamma Station. The UNSC never sent anyone, and they didn't seem to be rebels or mercenaries, judging by the readings. They were... Covenant. Strangest part was, they weren't getting killed off. They were being... Greeted? By Gamma Team? Did this mean that Gamma Team had betrayed the UNSC and had Covenant allies?

"Sir, John's not in his cryo-pod! The glass on it is shattered, and there are cold footprints leading to an escape pod! John must have used it to get off the ship!"

"Damn... What planet is it inbound for?"

"I don't know, sir... Ok... Let's see... Apparently, he's headed for Sacros IV."

"Send all the Helljumpers we can get, Lieutenant! I want that SPARTAN back on this ship _now_."

"Yes, sir!"

===OUTLANDS, PLANET SACROS IV===

John's UNSC escape pod landed in a desert region, not a single plant in sight. He kicked the door open, and got out, then dusted himself off. He saw his surroundings, and checked his radar. Nothing alive for hundreds of miles. John tried tapping into Gamma Team's radio channel, but failed after taking a guess at the first password (His guess was "Gamma"). He decided that sitting around would do nothing for him, so he started walking in a random direction. He walked for many miles, and still saw nothing alive. Then, after about three hours of walking, he saw something moving in the distance. He tried to take a closer look, but it disappeared into a canyon. He went to where it had disappeared, but saw nothing. _Must have been my imagination_, he thought. He looked to his left, and saw a floating humanoid figure. That figure was... Glowing, with a light blue color. It was also a female. She floated around for a bit, then stood and looked at John. When John saw her face, he realized that she looked very familiar. Then he remembered.

"Cortana?!"

"Yes, Chief. It's me. Good to know you still remember me."

"But... How did you... The Didact... He... What's going on?"

"You see, John... My AI chip was destroyed by the Didact... But I left it, and traveled to the most safe planet nearby. This was all I could get. I've lived here for six months in solitude. I was hoping and praying that you'd come and find me... And my wish was granted."

"So, for six months, you've been alone, by yourself, nobody with you?"

"Well, a few weeks ago, I met another AI, and somebody else that we knew quite well."

"Who?"

After John asked, two nonhumanoid figures came out of a cave. One of them was a blue, floating cube. The other was John's old nemesis, 343 Guilty Spark.

"Hello, I am Black-Box, also known as BB to some. I decided against choosing a form for myself, and stayed as what I was... Intellect, nothing more. Some find my cubic form... Intimidating."

"John, I am sure you remember me? I am 343 Guilty Spark, once monitor of Installation 04. After you destroyed me, another one of your kind, wearing light blue armor, rebuilt me. Now, I am impervious to damaging of any kind."

"Yeah, I remember you." John said.

"I've been able to control Guilty Spark using the capabilities of my AI form." Cortana said. "He won't attack us."

"Wait, AI form? Does this mean that you have more than one form, or some crazy shit like that?" John asked.

"Actually, yes." Cortana replied, then turned from blue to a flesh color, and then fell on her feet, stopped glowing, and put her hands on John's shoulders.

"You're... Human?!"

"Yes, I am. Sometimes it's not very desirable, but that's the best part of being able to change. I can take on whichever form I want or need."

"Wow, Cortana... You have no idea how much I missed you."

"Actually, I've been subconsciously watching you. So I do. I would've tried to contact you, but sadly, AIs can't do that."

"Well, I'm glad you're back." John replied, then pulled Cortana into a hug. In her human for, she was wearing some simple white clothing to cover herself.

"Also, I want you to see something." Cortana said, then pulled away and held her hand out. A small ball of lightning hovered over it for a second, then disappeared.

"Wow... That's amazing." John said.

"No, it's not. It's weird" Cortana replied.

"Yeah, it is! I've missed you for six months, and now you're better than ever!"

"Sorry to interrupt your moment, but why are we just standing here? We should head for Gamma Station. It's fifty miles from here." BB said.

"Okay. Let's go." John said.

The four companions walked towards the location that BB had mentioned, and walked on, and on, and on. They went about thirty miles, then John saw the same creature he saw earlier. It looked like a 10-foot-tall spider. He went closer, and it ran off again. John wondered what it was. He never saw anything like it.

They walked until they were ten feet away from Gamma Station's front door. John went up and tried to enter, but failed with the password again.

"Allow me to attempt opening this door. I've done it many times." Guilty Spark said. He fired a blue beam at the door's lock, and it slid open.

"Damn, this other SPARTAN rebuilt you real damn well." John said.

"Indeed. He did so without even touching me. He seemed to have some... Hidden power."

"Huh. Did you get his name?"

"No."

"Shoot."

"Well, I believe he's in this base now."

They entered, and saw Ryan, Joe, and Trent with three Elites in pressure suits. John readied his fists, considering he didn't bring a gun, and Cortana pulled out her lightning ball. Guilty Spark charged his power laser, and BB just watched. When the Elites didn't pull out their Carbines, the four companions lowered and deactivated their weapons. John made one mistake, though: He left the door open.

Through the door came the 10-foot-tall spider that John saw earlier, with razor-sharp leg-tips. It jumped on top of John, but then got blasted by Guilty Spark. It ran out the door, which closed behind it. As it ran, it emitted an ear-splitting scream.

"What... Was... That?" Joe asked.

Author's Note: Cortana is back, as well as BB and Guilty Spark! Essentially, all of your favorite characters have returned. I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee, I got the dude-osity like nobody else.


	5. Chapter 5: Civil Combat

Author's Note: BLAM! I. Am. Back. Did y'all miss me? Cuz I missed y'all! I really, really enjoy writing for the community. I hope this chapter increases this story's popularity! I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee, I got the dude-osity like nobody else.

===GAMMA STATION, PLANET SACROS IV===

"Chief?"

"Yes, Ryan. It's me. Did you... Miss me?"

"Yeah, I did! We're basically conflicting with a faction of Covenant, and being the only UNSC forces on the planet, we can't handle it! We need reinforcement, and I'm glad that you're here to help us!"

"I'm just repayin' you guys for what you did back in New York. No need to be glad."

"If you say so... Who are your friends?"

"Ah, yes. This is Cortana," He gestured to Cortana. "AI Black-Box," He pointed to BB. "And my old enemy, now ally, 343 Guilty Spark, monitor of Installation 04." He pointed at 343 Guilty Spark.

"Cortana? You mean the AI that you lost and thought you'd never find again?"

"Yep."

"Cool. Wait, aren't AIs supposed to be..." He touched Cortana's shoulder. "Non-solid?"

"It happened to her during her six months living in the Outlands. Hey, do you got any idea what the thing that nearly ripped me to pieces was?"

"That spider thing? Eh, probably a Vhaj Spider. They're not too common, so don't have your little floating eyeball friend go killin' 'em all off."

"Excuse me... I am not a _little floating eyeball_... I am a Forerunner Monitor. I monitored Intallation 04, but I left it once the Halo ring on which it was installed was destroyed." Guilty Spark said.

"Okay, okay. Sorry. I'm not good at distinguishing eyeballs from Monitors." Ryan said.

"Yes. I can tell."

"I had no idea this team was an environmentalist squad." John said.

"Ryan! You might wanna see this, boss!" A voice called.

"Comin'! Wait here."

"Got it." John said.

===MONITORING ROOM, GAMMA STATION===

"What do you guys want?! The Chief's here!"

"Yeah... So are _they_." Taffy said, then pointed to a monitor screen that was positioned outside the front door. There were about twenty ODSTs waiting outside, placing explosive charges on the door. There were dozens more in the background.

"What are they doing here?"

"Looks like they're trying to bust in."

"Ric, light 'em up." Ryan said over his comm set.

"Got it." Ric replied.

Taffy, Crouton, and Ryan watched as Ric came into the scene with his Flamethrower, burning the ODSTs up rapidly. Their armor melted as they fell to the ground, screaming in agony before dying a second later.

Ric was tearing the crap out of them. Then, three ODSTs jumped him from behind, yanked his helmet off, and injected him in the brain with a lethal synthetic poison. He fell to the ground, the team unaware if he was dead or just unconscious. That man could take a lightning bolt to the skull and live. It's happened many times before. There was no way that 1.5 ounces of poison could kill him.

Unless there was.

The three team members watched anxiously as Trent, Joe, John, and three Gamma Elites came out of the door into the fray of ODSTs. One of the Elites got stabbed in the visor with an ODST's combat knife, but it then kicked the ODST in the balls, as hard as he could, then shot him with its Carbine. John was punching and kicking as hard as he could. Trent was mowing them down with his SAW, one after the other, and Joe sniped them repeatedly, getting a headshot each and every time. He almost got assassinated by an ODST behind him, but he turned around and grabbed the ODST's head, then crushed it. The ODST fell to the ground, crimson blood pouring out of every hole and crack in his helmet.

"Damn, those ODSTs are tough." Ryan said.

"Yeah. I'm going in." Crouton said, then pulled out his SMGs and ran outside, then started firing non-stop at the nearest ODST. Then, after that one died, he moved on to the next one. He was shredding through them continually.

Soon enough, the ODSTs were all dead.

"Well... That was... Something..." John said.

"Hell yeah. Why were we attacked by ODSTs?" Taffy asked.

"I... I don't know... But... Let's prepare... Just in case... For another attack..."

"Well said, sir."

===UNSC _INFINITY_===

"Sir, they've killed every one of our ODSTs."

"WHAT?"

"Yes, sir. It's true. No signals other than the Covenant signals, Gamma Team, The Chief, two AIs, and one Forerunner signal."

"Well, aren't they determined? We need to move on to our last resort... Deploy the SPARTANs."

"Yes, sir."

Author's Note: Here you have it, people. Battle of the ages coming up in the next chapter. Hope I excited you guys enough to get a couple reviews! I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee, I got the dude-osity like nobody else.


	6. Chapter 6: Mercenaries on Hand

Author's Note: I am back for the 6th chapter of this story! Yeah, y'all are probably not very excited... It's okay. I will also start another FanFiction... But I can't tell you what it is! Doing so would be violation of the bro code. And we all know quite well... I _**never**_ violate anything bro-lated. I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee, I got the dude-osity like nobody else.

===MED BAY, GAMMA STATION===

"Ric? You there, buddy? Buddy? Hey, big guy! Wake up!"

After the ODST assault on Gamma Station, many systems needed repair and so did many doors and walls. Those guys had basically torn the base up from the roots. It was in shitty condition.

Also, Trent had needed to tend to Ric, after the explosives master had been injected in the brain with lethal poison. Trent took a good look, and realized that the ODSTs had taken the venom of a Vhaj Spider and refined it so it could be used as a weapon. This was a dire situation. There was only one way to fix this...

"I've gotta operate on you, Ric. I'll need to temporarily _remove_ your brain and suck out the venom... There's only one possible side effect from the treatment."

"What... Ungh... What is... It?"

"You may lose all of your memory..."

"_**WHAT?!**_"

"Yep... Everything... Your job, your team, who you are... Those things would be nothing more than little stings of forgettance... So... I don't want you to die... So I gotta operate."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no... I don't want to forget everything! I'd rather die! You guys are the only family and friends I have left..."

"I know... But... We can't let you die..."

"Lemme think about it..."

"Okay... You've got half a week to live, though."

"Oh god... I'll decide by then."

"'Kay, buddy."

===ARCTIC REGION, PLANET SACROS IV===

Eight crashes sounded from the ice of Sacros IV's biggest glacial wasteland as eight drop pods landed in it. The people inside kicked the doors off, and out from the pods emerged eight MK VI SPARTANs. They were all green, and carried Assault Rifles and M6C Pistols. One of them, however, had black as a secondary color, carried dual SMGs rather than an Assault Rifle, and had a Black Visor. He was Commander Jacob Williams of Eagle Squadron. His squad had two female members and six male members.

"Alright, team. We've got to make it through this wasteland and to Gamma Station! We need to get the Chief back to the _Infinity_. Kill any resistance, leave no man standing. We also need Gamma Team back up there for questioning. Destroy their Mantis, and feel free to crush the AI chip to powder. Got it?"

"Yes, Sir!" They all replied.

As soon as Jacob took his first step, a loud _crash_ resounded distantly.

"Okay, men. Just ignore that."

===MERCENARY BASE, UNKNOWN LOCATION===

"Well, now... Isn't this just awesome? More SPARTANs working for that stupid-ass UNSC... Looks like we can put the team to a bit more use now... Call them up."

"Already here." A voice replied

Into the room came seven SPARTANs in full armor and one White Covenant Hunter. They were the Mercenaries. SPARTANs, aliens, and robots that joined the Mercenaries organization and were recently hired to track down and kill Gamma Team.

"Okay... Let's make sure that all y'all are here... Mordoc?"

"Here." The Wetwork said.

"Hunter?"

"Here, boss." The Hunter replied.

"Red?"

"Yeah." The EOD replied.

"Splint?"

"Here." The MK V replied.

"Maxus?"

"Yeah."

"Reaper?"

"Let's rock."

"CL1-X?"

"Yes, sir. UNSC War Robot Model CL1-X reporting for duty." The SPARTAN in Pioneer armor replied.

"Porkchop?"

"I'm ready." The SPARTAN in Recruit armor said.

"Alright... Y'all ready to kick some ass?"

"_**YEAH!**_"

"Roll out, boys."

===HYCROD WASP NEST, ARCTIC REGION, PLANET SACROS IV===

"Wait... Where are we?"

"I dunno, boss... It doesn't look good, though."

"Thank you very much, Major, I can tell."

"It looks like some kind of insect nest... Let's check it out."

Eagle squad went into the giant object of ice, and saw a horrific sight: Hundreds of gigantic wasps swarming around the hive, taking the corpses of UNSC and Covenant soldiers and hanging them on the walls to be eaten later. In the back, there was a hole in the ground. The team snuck over to it, and looked inside.

In the hole, there was an enormous, possibly thirty-foot-long wasp, with drill-like mandibles and razor-sharp legs. It was fighting four Covenant Elites carrying Carbines. There were two Elite corpses on the bottom of the pit. The Elites had their backs against the wall, and the enormous insect was closing in on them.

And then the team found out what the crashing was.

Another rumbling noise came up, and when Jacob looked around to the exit of the hive, he saw a large number of gigantic beetles stampeding towards the hive. Jacob guessed that they were Firrost Beetles, inhabitants of many Arctic and Tropical regions across Sacros IV.

And they were headed straight for the hive.

===GAMMA STATION, PLANET SACROS IV===

"Guys... Didn't we kill the Mercenaries off like, a year ago?"

"Yeah, Crouton. Why you askin'?"

"Well, bro... We've got eight Mercenary signatures incoming to the base."

"Really?"

"Yep. I'm seeing... Mordoc, Splint, Red, Maxus, Hunter, Porkchop, Reaper, And CL1-X."

"CL1-X? You mean the robot that we built that got destroyed by that Blaze dude?"

"No... I mean CL1-X the delivery guy."

"You ordered pizza?"

"No, stupid. It's CL1-X, our old robot."

"So... No pizza?"

"No!" Crouton replied, then slapped Taffy across the face.

"Ow... Fine, I'll order it myself."

The signals got ever closer... Soon, there was nothing but a door between the Mercenary squad and Gamma Team. Red started knocking on the door hard and fast.

"_**OPEN UP, OR WE'LL BREAK IN OURSELVES!**_"

Crouton grabbed the comm set.

"Gamma Team, this is Crouton reporting. We have Mercenaries on hand and we recommend gearing up before they break in. Hang onto your balls, people, 'cause this is gonna be one hell of a fight!"

Author's Note: Yes, I'm keeping you waiting! I'm exciting you enought to keep you wanting more... And let's hope it works. I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee, I got the dude-osity like nobody else.


	7. Chapter 7: Mysteries to be Revealed

Author's Note: Hola! Como estas? Sorry about that... I just love speaking foreign languages! Anyways, these chapters today might take longer to post than normal... My family has company and we're leaving the house a lot. Anyways... I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee, I got the dude-osity like nobody else.

===GAMMA STATION, PLANET SACROS IV===

"Mordoc? You there? I need you to hack into the security cameras."

"On it."

Mordoc jumped up to a security camera, opened up the cable box, and cut the orange cable. At that point, Crouton lost visual on the Mercenaries.

"Guys? I need to restore visual on the exterior, Camera X-32-NN-15B. Trent, what's that cam's status?"

"Lemme see... Crap. One of them cut the cables and now I'm not getting anything except for some static and a black screen."

"I know how we can fix it!" Tweezer said.

"How? Is this another smart moment?" Trent asked.

"We could turn the cameras on!"

"Oh my god... Just... Try to shut up, okay buddy?"

"Sure!"

"Thanks."

Another voice entered the comm channel. It was unmistakably Zeta.

"If Mordoc hadn't cut the wires, I'd be able to reopen the camera visual. Sadly, the cables got cut. Now I'm powerless in this situation."

"Don't you have a twenty-foot-tall titanium battle suit?"

"You mean the one that got viciously stabbed by a giant beetle?"

"Good point."

"Can't you repair it?"

"Nope. The systems got cut out and the main console had a big hole in it. I can't make physical repairs."

"I could... But there isn't a back door..."

"Yeah there is. Jessica escaped and boarded a Phantom headed for the Covenant Cruiser above us using that door. She's been working with the Covies all along."

"Jessica? My sniping buddy? She's with the Covies?" Joe asked.

"I guess so."

"Sorry, Corporal..." Ryan said to Joe, moving towards him.

"And just when I thought somebody was actually _excited_ to work with me..."

"Uh, guys? I hate to butt in on the heartbreak, but we've got eight of the planet's most dangerous Bounty Hunters outside our base, trying to kill us." Ric said.

"Already on it." Zeta said.

"What?" Ryan asked.

"Look through Camera B-33-FQ-16L."

The team looked through the camera. What they saw was intense.

The team had Warthog Transports, Scorpion Tanks, and Hornet VTOLs.

And they were all being automated and driven into battle.

The first respone by a Mercenary was a Thunder Cannon blast in the cockpit of a Hornet, done by CL1-X. the Vehicle spun out of control before exploding on another one, which also exploded. Then, A Scorpion shot a cannon blast at CL1-X... And once the smoke disappeared, the team saw that the War Robot was unharmed. He fired a shot at the tank, which had static surrounding it for a second, before completely powering down. Then, Red (EOD SPARTAN, if you missed the last chapter) threw a Spike grenade at it, blowing it up. The canopy flew off and crashed on top of a Warthog, which shattered into tiny bits.

"Zeta, it's not working! That robot keeps Thundering your vehicles!"

"I can tell..."

The battle raged on, and not a single Mercenary was harmed.

Then, Eagle Squad arrived. One SPARTAN in the squad sneaked up behind Splint and whacked him in the back of the head with the butt of his AR. The Mercenary fell, unconscious. The other Mercs were unaware of this, which gave the squad an oppurtunity to do the same to the rest of the Mercs. When it didn't work on CL1-X, one of the SPARTANs pulled out a Thunder Cannon and zapped him, deactivating him. then, they ripped his limbs and head off. He seemed to be a fully automated PIONEER SPARTAN, as there was apparently no head under the helmet, and no limbs inside the arm and leg armor.

The question, however, was how that robot survived a tank blast. Gamma Team had built him to be indestructible, yes... But, they _hadn't_ built him to survive a lava spray. So, when a volcano squirted all over the robot (Please dont take that the wrong way), he had deactivated for good... Or at least that's what the team thought. The War Bot's external shell wasn't built to be recovered, just in case it had been recovered by the enemy and used as an armor plating. Therefore, the team was curious how the Mercs had done so.

Even more importantly... The Mercs were killed off a long time ago.

And most questionably... Who were the team's saviors? A SPARTAN team out of nowhere was just as good of a sign as the ODSTs. Hence, not good. And with their explosives expert having a week to live, the team was basically screwed until they could operate on Ric. And Ric didn't want to be operated on, for the fear of losing all of his memories. This was a dire situation: The UNSC, Covenant, and Mercenaries were all against them. They had lost their Mantis, their Vulture (The vehicle's power got cut somehow), many of their other vehicles, and was losing a team member, as well as having their temporary member, Jessica, having defected to the Covenant.

They needed to recruit a new weapon. It was do or die time.

"Trent, Zeta. How many interspacial vehicles do we have on hand?" Ryan asked.

"One shuttle, capable of holding sixteen people." Zeta replied.

"Let's go to E.D.N III."

Author's Note: Yes, E.D.N III! From Lost Planet 2! You will, from now on, be seeing Akrid, Snow Pirates, NEVEC Soldiers, Carpetbaggers, Jungle Pirates, and Experimental Weapons! What fun! I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee, I got the dude-osity like nobody else.


	8. Chapter 8: EDN III

Author's Note: Hello! I read this week's reviews, and I saw one vote for how this chapter should go... And I mentally threw up. This is an action fic, not a smut-fic. Sorry, guest. You'll need to search for shit-eating somewhere else. I will also be writing a Star Wars: TOR crossover with Brothers in Armor, including my 5 SWTOR characters! I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee, I got the dude-osity like nobody else (BTW I recently got LOST PLANET 3 and I'm looking for someone to play online with. There is literally _nobody_ online.).

===PLANET E.D.N III, _NEVEC_ DOCKING BAY===

After a long and time-consuming spacial flight in a UNSC shuttle (They left Master Chief and his AIs to tend to Gamma Station), Gamma Team had finally arrived on E.D.N III, on the docking bay of a NEVEC base. The planet was _way_ below freezing, so the team had to resort to specialized NEVEC protective suits (NEVEC Black Ops starting armor from LP2). They entered the base, and saw a grouping of people discussing something.

"Hello?" Ryan said.

"Huh? Oh... Hello Ryan. I'm officer Braddock. This is Doctor Roman, our good friend Hutchings, our expert Rig driver Laroche, and my right-hand-man, Jim Peyton. I didn't recognize you at first as any more than a few NEVEC soldiers."

"Ah, fuck with apologies, I get it. This planet nearly frosted our armor over, so we had to resort to these pieces of shit."

"They're actually quite strong and durable, as long as your T-energy tank is intact. That thing breaks, and it's game over."

"Got it."

"Your weapons won't be any use against the Akrid, and you need a Rig, so I'd reccommend that you check with our quartermaster, Birdie, for guns and a knife, and then head over to Gale and get your Rigs."

"Where can we find them?"

"Jim, could you show the new arrivals where to find their supplies?"

"Yeah. Alright guys, follow me." Jim said.

"Got it." Ryan replied, as he and his team followed Jim.

Jim lead them through a hallway to an elevator, and they all entered (Except for Ric, who was sent to the medical bay for assessment on his lethal injection). When they reached the bottom floor, they saw a holo-sign that read: SUPPLY FLOOR. QUARTERMASTER, GALE'S WORKSHOP.

"Alright... Let's start with getting you guys some real guns. Guns that will actually kill Akrid." Jim said, leading them to Birdie's gun shop. Ryan chose a Shotgun with the stock attachment, Joe chose a Hunting Rifle w/scope, Trent picked up a Pulse Rifle, the twins chose Assault Rifles w/extended clip, and Tweezer picked a Particle Thrower (Now he can set things on fire... Great). Ryan chose a Grenade Launcher for Ric, and they headed to Gale's workshop after getting knives.

When they got there, Jim got a transmission from Coronis-Actual.

"Jim, we need you up here... Get your Rig, 'cause there's a Cat-G Akrid attacking the base!"

"On my way! Sorry guys, I gotta go. Meet up with Gale and get your stuff."

"M'kay, Jim." Joe said as Jim ran at top speed to the elevator. The team walked into the workshop, which was seemingly abandoned, until a friendly voice greeted them.

"Hey, Gamma. I'm Gale. I know, it's a girl's name, but my parents were expecting a girl and this was all they could think of... Anyways, welcome to my workshop!"

The team looked around to see an 18-ish male leaning against a wall in his kiosk. He was holding a NEVEC Pistol and his face had a smug look about it.

"You're Gale? But you seem so... Young." Crouton said.

"Yeah, I get that sometimes. Working for NEVEC brings in a good pay, so I can get myself a home after I graduate."

"Graduate...? You're... Not even o-out of c-college?"

"Hahah... Nah, man I left college a while ago... I'm just messin with that head o' yours."

"Phew..."

"Anyways... Y'all are gonna see your rigs in the 2nd floor. I'll meetcha there."

"Um... Ok." Ryan said, slightly confused.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing... Nothing. It's just... I didn't expect _all_ of the rigs to be set and done."

"Yeah, well, I am a fast worker."

"I can tell. We'll meet you in the Rig bay."

"Gotcha."

===FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER, RIG BAY===

Yes, fifteen minutes later... Dont judge Gamma Team, it's their first time in the base.

"Hey, Ryan! Ready to see your new Rig?"

"Ready as I'll ever be... Show me, kid."

"Alright, then... Here she is."

Gale pressed a button on the controller he was holding, and a set of doors opened and out came a massive bipedal vehicle with a claw arm and a drill arm, with three drills in a triangle formation. It had an enormous storage tank on its back and the entire thing had a thin layer of frost over it. However, the frost didn't stop it from moving, as the vehicle's arms lowered and the cockpit opened, and a rope slid down in front of Ryan. He pulled down on it, and got pulled up to the cockpit. He hopped in, the cockpit closed, and the control system lit up.

"Alrighty, Ryan, nice job. You already figured out the kern-retractors. Now, throw a punch with that drill."

Ryan pressed a button on his control lever, and the drill arm threw a punch.

"Hey... Where's the rest of my team?"

"They're already fighting the Cat-G Akrid in their Rigs. Now, grab something with that claw."

Ryan threw a lever forward, and pressed the button on top, causing it to grab a large steel canister, which he then dropped.

"Nice... Now I need you to drill into that patch of ice next to you."

Ryan turned around, and moved his drill arm forward, then pulled the trigger on his drill arm lever, causing the ice to shatter from the drills boring into it.

"Good. You're all set. Go get that Cat-G... Wait... It's growing?! Now it's an Over-G?! Crap. Go, Ryan! Go get 'im!"

The exit door opened, and Ryan walked over to them, exited, and saw nothing for a second... And then a huge, black-and-orange monster with two cocoon-launcher pods near its mouth shot its enormous tongue at Ryan, who dodged just in time. Then he saw the others in their Rigs...

This was gonna be one hell of a fight.

Author's Note: Akrid assailant 0001: Hiveen. The first Cat-G Akrid that the player encounters in LP3. Ric is still in the mad bay. He decided to take the treatment. I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee, I got the dude-osity like nobody else.


	9. Chapter 9: Blackheart

Author's Note: Hello, people! I now realize that Birdie doesn't sell the G-Launcher or P.I.G... And I feel stupid. Anyways, I'm a bit tired, so this chapter might be a little bit shitty. I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee, I got the dude-osity like nobody else.

===HIVEEN BATLE SITE, PLANET E.D.N III===

The battle had raged on... The Hiveen had lost its facial armor and now had a mass of glowing orange globular masses on its face, which the team assumed was its eyes. After a minute or so, Trent remembered the attachment on his Rig.

"The grappling arm!"

He pushed a button on his claw arm control lever, and the claw shot outwards and gripped the creature by the tongue. He retracted the claw while it was still grabbing the Hiveen's tongue, and pulled the whole beast towards him. He then took his drill and shoved it into the Hiveen's "eyes". He continued to drill until they burst, and the Akrid screamed in pain, before collapsing onto the cliff.

"Nice job, Trent!"

"Thanks, general. I realized that Gale gave me a grappling hook..."

"It's a damn good thing he did."

"He gave you the drilling platform upgrade, and also gave Tweezer the blowtorch/drill swapping capability."

"Wait... He gave _Tweezer_... A _flame_ weapon!?"

"Don't worry... The kid doesn't know that he has it."

"Good."

"Guys, we need y'all to investigate a structure about twelve kilometers from here. Your Rigs won't be able to go with you, though. Gale wants to upgrade them... Again." Braddock said over the comm set.

"Got it, boss."

===UNKNOWN STUCTURE, PLANET E.D.N III===

The team arrived at the structure's entrance, which had apparently already been blown open by a recent visitor. The edges of the hole in the door were still warm. They entered, and stumbled into a room full of crates, cobwebs, blood stains, and dead bodies. They had been recently killed, as the blood still had yet to dry. There were light squeaking and chittering sounds surrounding them as they walked towards the second door, which was also blown open. They walked through it, and stepped into a room with some bunk beds and side-tables, littered with more corpses. Joe read the insignia on one of the corpses' body suits. It read: NEVEC.

That meant that this was a dead NEVEC base, and there were killers lurking within.

"Hey boss, you might wanna see this..." Crouton said.

Ryan walked over to Crouton's position, where he was kneeling down, observing a small object in his palm. When Ryan picked it up and looked at it, he noticed it was all too familiar: A shock round for a UNSC M6C Pistol.

This told them that the killers were UNSC personnel.

And that's when there was a _whoosh_, a _crack_, and next thing you know, Trent was unconscious.

"What the... Trent!" Taffy said.

Another _whoosh_, _crack_, and the twins were out.

Now it was just Ryan and Joe.

They surveyed the room, looking around in all directions. They saw incredibly fast moving signatures on their radars, but got no visual. Then, they had the feeling that something was moving behind them. Ryan turned around, and saw what... Or _who_, it was.

And it was SPARTAN Lucy-B091.

"Lucy? What are you doing, whacking our team members in the back of the head?"

She didn't respond.

"Oh yeah... Incident with that Kurt guy in the Covenant facility..."

She whacked him in the face, then a mechanized female voice replied: "Do not remind me of what happened with Kurt."

"OW...! God... Damn, girl... I'm sorry, alright?"

She used her knee to jack his jeffries as hard as she could, then replied: "I don't want sorry."

"Arrrrgh... _Son of a BITCH_! That _hurt_!"

"I know."

"What the fuck are you doin' here?"

"I'm not alone. I have three other allies. I could lead you to them..."

"And... Why would I trust the girl who flattened my sack?"

She kneed him again. "Because if you don't, I'll flatten your _face_."

"Okay... Fine... Geez, woman..." He said, following her, for some reason his eyes were fixated on her ass.

Author's Note: Blam! Hiyahiyahiyah! Okay, now I look like an idiot. I know this story has sort of... Random events... But random is fun! I am Duuuuuuuuudeeeee, I got the dude-osity like nobody else.


End file.
